President proposes peace movement under auspices of Religious Leaders Congress

"We believe it is important to leverage the potential of spiritual diplomacy within international and regional organizations. I propose a discussion on the idea of a peace movement under the auspices of the Congress, which I previously announced. Religious hierarchies could serve as the moral core of this movement with a neutral and non-politicized call to end violence and seek peaceful solutions,” the Head of State said. “This initiative, based on the shared human values of the sanctity of life, compassion, and mercy, can unite not only the broad public of believers, but also politicians, representatives of international organizations, government agencies, experts, and, of course, young people.”

The President stressed that the voice for peace must be more persistent and that platforms like the Congress are designed to facilitate this.

He also thanked UN member states for supporting Kazakhstan’s initiative to establish in Almaty the UN Regional Centre for the Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev added that due attention should be paid to strengthening the role of regional structures, including CICA, OIC, OSCE, SCO, CIS, ASEAN, and the League of Arab States.

Earlier, it was reported that Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev opened the 8th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana.